New IV catheter invented

Intravenous products: TheDartmouth.com report: “A new intravenous catheter insertion system designed by Dartmouth Medical School anesthesiology professor Christopher Wiley could lead to improved patient comfort and increased cost efficiency, according to Martin Doyle, medical CEO of Balch Hill Medical Group, which is working with Wiley on developing the product. Wileys innovation, the PrecisionThread system, is still in pre-marketing stages and is currently pending FDA approval, Wiley said in an interview with The Dartmouth.

The PrecisionThread system may increase the success rate of IV insertion by up to 75 percent, Doyle said, though Wiley said that figure has not yet been confirmed by tests.

One problem common with current systems is a false â€œblood flashbackâ€ signal, Wiley said, in which the release of blood into the needle indicates to a technician that the needle has entered the vein, but does not guarantee that the catheter has.

The PrecisionThreads design, however, features a catheter that is much closer to the opening of the needle, so that a blood flashback is a better indicator that both the needle and the catheter have entered the vein, Wiley said.

Current catheter systems are also hampered by the potential for the needle to pierce the back wall of the vein if pushed too far. Other physicians have attempted to improve the success rate of IV insertion by focusing on this problem, Wiley said, but many of these other designs actually increased the likelihood of the catheter not entering the vein.

You’re really just trading one problem for another, Wiley said. A truly effective design, I think, needs to address both problems. Not just one or the other.

The PrecisionThread device has a rounded keel at the end of the needle that allows the needle to skid across the back wall of the vein, rather than piercing it, he said.”